A big thank you to my friends SWTOR Central (@swtor_central) and Kid Lee (@Kidleeasf) for providing all the clips and screenshots used in this article!

Gods from the Machine:

An operation in several acts

As we discussed previously, SWTOR is trying a new approach to rolling out an operation this year, releasing it in stages so as to allow players to begin the raid sooner rather than later. The first encounter of this raid is a boss named Tyth, released in April, who seems to be having a serious case of the Mondays.

If after spending time with this little ray of sunshine you want to bring a little bit of the angry god home with you– and I mean why wouldn’t you?– snap up this cool deco from the new Dread Warlord Cartel Pack:

The New Boss Fight: Aivela and Esne

This boss-pair are part of a dysfunctional family tree that has been revealed to the astute SWTOR player in the form of ingame lore teased since game update 5.0.

The Pantheon of Zakuul

Forced to settle in bogs and swamps, early Zakuulans were a superstitious, nihilistic people who worshipped a pantheon of ruthless gods. These deities expressed their power through the pain and suffering of their followers. The pantheon’s father was Izax, the god of death and the Ultimate Devourer. The ancient Zakuulans believed their fate was tied to the will of the gods and belonged to Izax. Those who challenged this view were considered demons. While most Demons were outcasts and expelled from society, a prophecy emerged claiming that one would climb beyond Izax’s reach–an immortal god of gods who would topple the pantheon and usher in a new age for Zakuul. –Ingame Codex, Lore, The Old Ways of Zakuul

Aivela and Esne

What we know of these siblings of Tyth comes from datapads inside the Star Fortress encounters that launched with the Knights of the Fallen Empire expansion. These datapads have interesting legends about the Old Gods of Zakuul presented as devotional texts that the player can read but not save! (As Ravalation points out in her prophetic post that I relied heavily on in my first Gods from the Machine post and in this one, these datapad discoveries do not generate codex entries.) If you want to find these gems for yourself, see this guide from Dulfy. Reading them all will get you the title Follower of the Old Ways.

Aivela: Goddess of Passion

Aivela, Goddess of Passion

“…Burn all doubt in the fires of Aivela, our goddess of passion. The Favored Daughter stands beside her brother Tyth on every battlefield, radiating grace to the fearless…“

So when your twin sister is the fiery Goddess of Passion and the Favored Daughter, that doesn’t leave much for you to do except be…

Esne: Goddess of Envy

Esne, Goddess of Envy

“…Beware the shadows of Esne, goddess of envy and twin of Aivela. Forever eclipsed by her sister’s incandescence, she will use her venomous tongue to test the faithful and cull the weak…”

I think I know which one I am more scared of…

PS I’ll be looking for Aivela’s earrings in a Cartel Pack

The Fight: Exclusive Videos

<Contains Spoilers>

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The boss encounter has some new mechanics in a pretty Emerald City style location. See the following exclusive videos from members of Bioware’s Influencer program, taken from the Public Test Server. Be aware that not all art and audio are complete and things may look different (i.e. better) in the live environment.

Official SWTOR Promotion Video (cutscene with dialogue)

“When people jump into the fight for the first time they are going to be really confused by everything that is going on. Once you learn the fight, it’s actually quite easy. I’m a big fan of raid fights that have individual responsibility. Something you have to do in addition to your normal job. (DPS, Tank, Heal). If you mess up in this fight by matching ‘to’ the wrong color you can die real quick. You have to stay on your toes in the second half of the fight. The hardcore players might find it too easy, only time will tell. Overall I think this is a really fun fight. It’s quickly become one of my favorite raid fights in the game.” – Kid Lee

Boss Fight: Kid Lee’s Team takes on the Goddesses

“It’s an AOE festival capable of giving my local annual firework display a run for it’s money… Strap in folks, it’s about to get messy” – SWTOR Central

An introduction to the instance and backdrop by SWTOR Central

The Fight in 8SM by SWTOR Central

This operation boss goes live on July 11 with Game Update 5.3 Are you looking forward to the newest installment of SWTOR’s latest dysfunctional family feud? Let me know in the comments!